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Trevor Linden
| birth_place = Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada | draft = 2nd overall | draft_year = 1988 | draft_team = Vancouver Canucks | career_start = 1988 | career_end = 2008 }} Trevor Linden (born Trevor John Linden on April 11, 1970) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current president of hockey operations and alternate governor of the Vancouver Canucks. He spent nineteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing centre and right wing with four teams: the Vancouver Canucks (in two tenures; the first and last), New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals. Before joining the NHL in 1988, Trevor helped the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) win consecutive Memorial Cup championships. In addition to appearing in two NHL All-Star Games, he was a member of the 1998 Canadian Olympic team and participated in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Throughout his career, he was recognized as a respected leader on and off the ice. He was named captain of the Canucks at the age of 21, making him one of the youngest captains in league history. In that capacity, he was nicknamed "Captain Canuck" and led the team to back-to-back Smythe Division titles in 1992 and 1993, followed by a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994 where they lost in seven games. In 1998, Trevor was elected President of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), a position he held for eight years. As President, he played an instrumental role in the 2004–05 NHL lockout, including negotiations with league owners. Off the ice, he has taken an active role in charities & was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership on the ice and humanitarian contributions off the ice in 1997 as well as the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2008. On June 11, 2008, Trevor retired on June 11, 2008, twenty years to the day after he was drafted into the NHL. His jersey number 16 was retired by the Canucks on December 17, 2008, the second number retired by the team. On April 9, 2014, Trevor was named the President of Hockey Operations for the Vancouver Canucks. Playing Career Early Playing Career An excellent student in school, Trevor was offered a scholarship to Princeton University to play for their hockey team; instead, he chose to stay in Medicine Hat and play with the local major junior team, the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. Trevor grew up watching the Tigers and idolized Lanny McDonald, who played in Medicine Hat before he joined the NHL. After one season playing with the Medicine Hat Midget Tigers of the Alberta Midget Hockey League (AMHL), he joined the WHL Tigers for the final five games of the 1985–86 regular season where he scored two goals; he also appeared in six playoff games, scoring one goal. The next season, at the age of 16, Trevor made the team full-time. During his first full season in the WHL, he had 36 points in 72 games, and then had nine points in 20 playoff games, including two goals in the championship game, helping Medicine Hat win their first Memorial Cup as Canadian junior champions. The next year, Linden had 110 points in 67 games, and led the Tigers to their second consecutive Memorial Cup title.[ During the 1988 WHL playoffs, he set a WHL playoff record by scoring the fastest goal from the start of a game, scoring seven seconds into a 6–5 Tigers win over the Saskatoon Blades on April 15, 1988. At the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, the Vancouver Canucks selected Trevor second overall, after the Minnesota North Stars selected Mike Modano. NHL Career Vancouver Canucks (1988–1998) On October 6, 1988, Trevor made his NHL debut against the Winnipeg Jets at the age of 18. He scored his first goal on October 18, 1988 against Kelly Hrudey of the New York Islanders and later, on November 17, 1988, he scored his first hat trick against the Minnesota North Stars. Trevor finished the season tied for the team lead in goals (30) and second for points (59). He was the first Canucks rookie to score 30 goals and came within one point of tying Ivan Hlinka's team record of 60 points as a first-year player, set in 1981–82 (the record was later tied by Pavel Bure in 1991–92).21 Linden also became the first rookie to win the Cyclone Taylor Award, given to the Canucks' most valuable player. Trevor was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and finished second to Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers in voting for the Calder Trophy, given to the rookie of the year. Fans voted him as the winner of The Hockey News' rookie of the year award. The Canucks made the playoffs in the 1988–89 season, for the first time in three years, and he scored seven points in the Canucks' seven-game series loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames. In his sophomore NHL season, Trevor finished second on the team in goals, with 21, and points, 51, and finished third in assists with 30. The following year, he was one of three Canucks to share a rotating captaincy (the others being Doug Lidster and Dan Quinn). He led the team with 37 assists and 70 points, and made his first appearance in an NHL All-Star Game, where he was the youngest player. At the age of 21, Trevor was made sole captain of the team, becoming the youngest Canucks captain. That season, he led the Canucks in scoring for a second straight year with 75 points (31 goals and 44 assists), leading the Canucks to their first division title since the 1974–75 season. A natural winger early in his career, he began learning to play at the center position during the Canucks training camp in October 1992. Canucks head coach Pat Quinn initiated the switch in response to the losses of centers Anatoli Semenov & Petr Nedved during the off-season. The Canucks repeated as Smythe Division champions that year, setting franchise records for wins and points with 46 and 101, respectively. For the third straight season, Trevor surpassed 30 goals and 70 points, finishing with totals of 33 goals and 72 points. In the 1993–94 season, Trevor scored 32 goals, the fifth time in six seasons he had scored at least 30, but his points total fell to 61 as the Canucks finished 12 points behind the division leader. Although they were the seventh seed in the playoffs, the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 12 years and second time in team history. Considered the underdogs against the first place New York Rangers captained by Mark Messier, the Canucks initially fell behind three games to one but pushed the series to seven games. In game seven, Trevor scored twice (the next player to get two goals in a game seven was Alex Tanguay in 2001) but the Canucks lost, 3–2. He finished second on the team in playoff scoring, with 12 goals and 25 points. It was revealed afterwards that he had played through the finals with broken ribs and torn rib cartilage. In the 1995–96 season, he had 33 goals, 47 assists and 80 points, the most he has ever collected in all three statistical categories. On February 27, 1996, he played in his 437th consecutive game, breaking the team record previously held by Don Lever. The following season marked the end of Trevor's ironman streak; between October 4, 1990 and December 3, 1996, he appeared in 482 consecutive games, the longest in the league at the time.32 His team record was later broken in 2007 by Brendan Morrison. In his 49 games that season, Trevor scored nine goals and 31 assists. At the conclusion of the season, the NHL recognized his contributions to the Vancouver community and awarded him the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. At the start of the 1997–98 season, the Canucks added free agent Mark Messier, a six-time Stanley Cup winner, and manager/coach Mike Keenan, who were (respectively) captain and coach, of the New York Rangers when they defeated Vancouver in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. Keenan's hiring was as a result of Pat Quinn being dismissed as general manager and Keenan also assumed the title of bench boss by firing head coach Tom Renney early in the season. According to some accounts, Trevor initially gave up the team captaincy to Messier out of respect, but later regretted the move as he felt that Messier's invasion of the dressing room was hostile. Friction developed between Trevor & Keenan early in the season. As the relationship worsened, Keenan claimed that it was evident that he would be traded. After a 5–1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Keenan openly blamed Trevor for the loss, a moment that he refers to as his "darkest time". Playing in 42 games with the Canucks before the February Olympic break, Trevor had seven goals and 21 points. New York, Montreal and Washington (1998–2001) On February 6, 1998, Trevor was traded to the New York Islanders on February 6, 1998 for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe and the Islanders' third round choice (used to select Jarkko Ruutu) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. After the conclusion of the Olympics, in which he participated, he joined the Islanders and played 25 games with the team. He scored 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points to finish the season, with a combined 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points in 67 games. The following year, his first full season in three years, Trevor was second on the team with 47 points, and third with 18 goals. On May 29, 1999, the Islanders traded him to the Montreal Canadiens for a first round draft pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft (Branislav Mezei), for mostly financial reasons. With Montreal, Trevor was often injured and only appeared in 50 games during his first season with the Canadiens, scoring 30 points while the next year, he appeared in 57 games, scoring 33 points. While with the Canadiens, he signed a four-year contract worth $15 million, but he was traded for the third time in his career, this time to the Washington Capitals, going with Dainius Zubrus and New Jersey's 2nd round choice in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft (later traded to Tampa Bay who picked Andreas Holmqvist) in exchange for Richard Zednik, Jan Bulis & Washington's 1st round choice in the 2001 Draft (Alexander Perezhogin). With Washington, Trevor reached the playoffs for the first time in four years, in the 2000–01 season. Return to Vancouver (2001–2008) After 28 games, over two seasons, with the Capitals, Trevor had scored only four goals and three assists. On November 10, 2001, the Capitals traded him with a second round draft pick in either 2002 or 2003 (Denis Grot) to the Canucks for their first round pick in 2002 (Boyd Gordon) and a third round pick in 2003 (later traded to Edmonton who picked Zack Stortini). He scored 34 points with Vancouver in 64 games, which included his 1,000th regular season game on March 26, 2002, against the Los Angeles Kings. In his first playoff series with Vancouver in six years, he scored a goal and four assists in six games. The 2002–03 season was Trevor's first full season with the Canucks since the 1996–97 season even though he sprained his knee in the season opener and had to miss two weeks. He returned in time to be honoured for his 1,000th career game which he achieved the season before. As he did not want to distract the team from the playoff race, he asked for the ceremony to be delayed. On November 25, 2002, against the Minnesota Wild, Trevor scored his 263rd goal with the Canucks, breaking former captain Stan Smyl's team record for most goals. He finished the year with 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points, his highest goal total in seven seasons, and his highest points total since the 1998–99 season. The following season, Trevor broke several more Canucks records. In a February 16, 2004, game against the Colorado Avalanche, he played in his 897th game as a Canuck, passing Smyl. On March 8, 2004, Trevor had two points, including his team-record 674th point with the Canucks, a mark also previously held by Smyl. For the first time in five years, he played in all 82 games, recording 36 points. After a year-long break from hockey during the 2004-05 NHL lockout in which he actively participated in new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations, Trevor again appeared in all 82 games during the 2005–06 season, scoring seven goals and 16 points. Linden became the first player to play 1,000 games with the Canucks on April 13, 2006, when they faced the San Jose Sharks. On October 5, 2006 (in the 2006–07 season opener), Trevor scored the game winner against the Detroit Red Wings to become the first Canuck to score 300 goals with the team. After notching 25 points in 80 games, he helped the Canucks reach the second round of the playoffs. He scored two game-winning goals in the first round, including the series winning goal against the Dallas Stars in game seven of their first-round matchup which was Trevor's sixth game-seven goal of his playoff career. Trevor finished the playoffs with a team-leading seven points in 12 games. This made Linden the Canucks' all-time leader in playoff goals (34), assists (61) and points (95). After taking the summer to decide if he would return for another season, he signed a one-year contract with the Canucks in August 2007. The season was not ideal for Trevor, who was a healthy scratch 23 times. In the 59 games he played, he scored seven goals and five assists, by far the lowest totals in his career. Against the Calgary Flames on November 8, 2007, Trevor earned his 412th assist with the Canucks, surpassing Smyl, once again. He finished his career with 415 assists as a Canuck, which stood as the all-time mark until Henrik Sedin surpassed him on March 14, 2010. Trevor played in the final game of his NHL career on April 5, 2008 against the Calgary Flames. Despite Vancouver losing 7-1, he was named the game's first star and skated a lap around GM Place to a standing ovation and received handshakes from the Calgary players. On June 11, 2008, after 19 seasons in the NHL and 20 years to the day of being drafted into the NHL by the Canucks, Trevor announced his retirement, leaving as the franchise leader in games played with the Canucks (1140) and assists (415, since surpassed by Henrik Sedin) & second in goals to later captain Markus Naslund. Shortly after, Vancouver City Council stated that they would honor him by declaring the date of his jersey retirement to be "Trevor Linden Day" in Vancouver. The Canucks retired he jersey number, 16, from circulation in a pre-game ceremony December 17, 2008, prior to playing the Edmonton Oilers. Trevor became the second Canuck to have his jersey retired, joining former captain Stan Smyl, whose jersey number 12 was retired in 1991. Earlier in the day, the Canucks changed the number of the entrance gate for players and VIPs from Gate 5 to Gate 16 in his honor. Career as NHLPA President On April 9, 2014, Trevor was named the President of Hockey Operations for the Canucks, replacing Mike Gillis in that role. He was hired by the Canucks the day after Gillis was fired, following a season where the team failed to become a playoff contender. On May 1, 2014, Linden fired head coach John Tortorella. Jim Benning, who was serving as Assistant General Manager with the Boston Bruins (and was a former Canuck and teammate of Trevor in his playing career) was hired by him to replace Gillis as the Canucks General Manager on May 23, 2014. On June 23, 2014, Benning hired Willie Desjardins as the 18th coach in Canucks history. Career Statistics Regular season and playoffs International All-Star Games International Play Canada }} Throughout his hockey career, Trevor appeared in five international tournaments for Team Canada. He first appeared on the world stage at the 1988 World Junior Championships, a tournament Canada won, where he scored one goal. Trevor's first senior international tournament was the 1991 World Championship, in which he contributed one goal and four assists in ten games as Canada won the silver medal. He was also invited to training camp for the 1991 Canada Cup roster, but was released early. In the 1996 World Cup, the successor to the Canada Cup, Trevor helped Canada to a second-place finish with a goal and an assist over eight games. Two years later, he was selected as a member of Team Canada in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Though he injured his knee only weeks before, he played in all six games, scoring one goal, a game-tying marker with 67 seconds left against the Czech Republic that sent the semi-final game to overtime. Canada finished fourth in the tournament. Later that summer, Trevor participated in the 1998 World Championships. He scored one goal and four assists as Canada finished fifth. Accolades Canadian honours NHL WHL and CHL Vancouver Canucks team awards Personal Life Trevor was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta to Lane and Edna Linden. His grandfather, Nick van der Linden, emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1929. He ran a construction company until his son Lane (Trevor's father) replaced him in 1979. His younger brother, Jamie Linden is a former professional ice hockey player. Trevor was a skilled athlete; despite hockey being his top priority, he also participated in baseball, golf, volleyball, basketball & speed skating. Together with his brother, Jamie, Trevor is a property developer. He had indicated that after his playing career was finished, he would like to become more involved in real estate. He is also an avid and competitive cyclist, frequenting the local Squamish and Whistler area to mountain bike, in addition to participating in various races. In the summer of 2007, Trevor competed in the Trans Alp bike race, a 600 km race across the European Alps. He and his racing teammate John Ramsden finished 48th out of the 122 competing two-man teams over the eight-day competition. Trevor was involved in the creation and recent launch of Club 16: Trevor Linden Fitness. He has also partnered with Vancouver developer Howard Airey, principal of Airey Development Group, to build two residential/commercial development projects. He was also the spokesperson for ClearlyContacts.ca and has appeared on television commercials. In addition to hockey, Trevor has also undertaken a considerable amount of charitable work. Working primarily with children, he has made frequent appearances at the BC Children's Hospital and Canuck Place, a hospice for terminally ill children. In 1995, he inaugurated the Trevor Linden Foundation to raise money for local charities and also hosts an annual golfing event as a fundraiser for BC Children's Hospital. When he was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2003, the citation referred to him as a "hockey player and humanitarian" Trevor has cited his brother, Dean, as being the inspiration for undertaking his charitable work, telling him to use his power as a hockey player. In testament to his efforts off the ice in Vancouver, Trevor has been a recipient of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1997) and the NHL Foundation Player Award (2008), honours awarded by the NHL to players for significant contributions in his community. He took part in the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay when the flame was in Vancouver before the opening ceremony. On December 30, 2010, it was announced that Trevor was to be invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. He was cited "for his ongoing sportsmanship and community engagement as a respected leader both on and off the ice." Category:1970 births Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category:Canadian ice hockey centres Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers Category:Vancouver Canucks draft picks Category:Vancouver Canucks players Category:New York Islanders players Category:Montreal Canadiens players Category:Washington Capitals players Category:NHL presidents Category:King Clancy Memorial Trophy winners Category:Medicine Hat Tigers players